The Korea National Park Service (KNPS) said Thursday it will impose a ban on picking from trees things such as acorns, nuts and berries in public places to protect wild animals.
Acorns are a food source for wild animals living in the parks such as squirrels, wild boars and Manchurian black bears in the autumn. It is also a part of the ecological system as insects, including rice weevils, spawn in the nut.
“The amount of acorns decreased this year and we have to protect the supply for the wild animals to feed on,” a KNPS official said.
Under the regulations, those caught collecting acorns at the scene will face up to three years in prison or a maximum 30 million won ($27,000) fine, depending on the amount. Even those caught with a handful of acorns will be fined 100,000 won.
“Some visitors pick up a handful of acorns without any sense of guilt. We ask them to stop doing so since even just one is connected to the ecosystem of the park,” he said. Last year, 61 people were caught collecting acorns and other plants, down from 89 the previous year.
Reminds me of a visit to Nagan Folk Village last spring:
6 comments:
The ban is only in National Parks, there are still plenty of places to find acorns.
I think it's a bit of a waste of time though. They just make acorn jelly with it, and acorn jelly doesn't really taste like anything.
What about Ginko trees? Several times I have seen men and women stomping on the trees, or kicking the trunk as hard as they can, to get the ginko berries to fall down. In the middle of a town!
Snarky that confused the hell out of me. I couldn't figure out for the longest times why Koreans would randomly come up to a tree and give it a swift kick. I could only conclude Koreans had something against foliage.
And I hate the smell the things give off in summer. Smells like garbage to me but Koreans find it a nice smell.
Kids can OD on ginko nuts. They can be toxic to young children consuming too many:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16996402
The amount consumed has to be on the rather extreme side
(Up to) 30,000,000 won for acorns, huh? Three years in jail? What's-his-face drives a girl to suicide and MIGHT get a year in jail. I guess they have to pay for all those new officers patrolling the parks somehow.
I'd laugh, but I think that's a crime in some parts of Dae Han Min Guk.
Oh, only national parks? Darn. Because I was walking through Tapgol Park the other day and was thinking, "You know, what this park needs is more wild boars."
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